bittersweet.

1. Combining bitter and sweet flavors.

2. Combining pleasant and painful feelings, often joy with sadness or loss.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a bittersweet taste
• bittersweet chocolate

On the page

The bittersweet chocolate left a darker note after its sweetness faded.

A bittersweet taste lingered in the glaze.

Usage notes

Primary category: sensory / description. Forms: Comparative more bittersweet; superlative most bittersweet where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.